The Fun Friends
by Scarlet Silhouette
Summary: A low-budget, cheaply made kid's show called The Fun Friends once took the world by storm. Now, one of the ex-cast members reflects on his time with the show and the dark side of its creator. Rated M for graphic violence and child abuse. Please be careful if you're sensitive to these topics.


p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I was around 16, maybe 17, when my parents started getting me into acting. God knows why. I was that kind of apathetic teenager when I was younger. The jury's still out on whether I grew out of it or not, though. My apathy wasn't helped by the fact that they got me a gig on some low-budget kid's show that was just announced. I groaned about it any chance I could. I just wanted to hang out with the few friends I had and waste my time playing video games. I thought I'd be a laughing stock if I ever showed up on that set. Still, my complaints went ignored. I was brought to start filming on June 19th./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It was there that I met the guy in charge: Roy. He was the director, producer, camera guy, seriously, he did everything. There was something… off about him, and I could tell that right away. The way his breaths were shallow, the way he shambled about from room to room, to the way he talked in a deadpan, yet somewhat aggressive tone constantly, all made me feel on edge whenever I was near him. But he was nice enough, on the surface. He shook my hand, introduced himself, and then brought me to meet the other cast members./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"There were only three, at the time. There was Robin. He was an older guy, compared to the rest of us. He seemed normal enough. A little jumpy at times, but normal. He merely greeted me with a simple wave. There was Paige. Chipper girl, maybe two or three years older than I was. The most striking feature she had was her rainbow-colored hair. She aggressively shook my hand, a bright, almost fake smile glued to her face./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Then there was Manny. Roy's kid. 6 or 7. Looking back, Roy probably created the whole show just so his little boy could be the star. He was fascinated by everything, always curious as to what was happening and who we were and everything about this strange show he was part of. The only thing strange about him was the way he acted around his dad. Whenever Roy entered the room, Manny would stiffen, shudder, and if something terrible was about to happen./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With us all gathered, Roy explained to us what we're supposed to do. The first episode would be about creativity. Paige would sing a song about "being creative" and "using your imagination" and all that, and the rest of us just had to go along with it. Seemed easy enough, though Paige was probably the most excited out of all of us./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Gosh, I can't wait to sing!" Paige cried out. I knew she probably rehearsed this song a thousand times over, but her excitement never dwindled./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"So, we started filming. I didn't even pretend to be interested. I didn't try to act, and I wholly expected to have been thrown out right away. But, Roy never told me any different. Paige sang her little song, and we all "learned" about watching clouds and gathering sticks and how green isn't a creative color./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"...I hated to admit it, but I started to actually have fun with it./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I found myself humming the song in between takes. I became more social to my cast members, especially Manny. I never had a brother, so the kid was as close as I could ever get. That show actually made me happy, something I thought would be impossible. I just wished my parents would wipe that stupid grin off their faces./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Even more surprising, the show, which Roy later called The Fun Friends, turned out to be a hit. Kids fell in love with us. Or, to be more specific, they fell in love with Paige. She was asked all the time to perform the song at different events, and we were dragged along with her. I was more than happy to relive it, though, even if it didn't show. Paige's joy was infectious. I sang along with her, sometimes, while she practiced. I laughed when my voice cracked, and she laughed at me, too. She was a good friend. Maybe even one of the greatest I ever had./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Unfortunately, her stardom overshadowed us. Paige became an actual, professional singer, after a while. She couldn't stay and help with the show anymore. Not that it bothered Roy. He had more than enough money to replace her, and even more to find more cast and crew outside of the five-man-band we were stuck with. It was still heart wrenching when she finally said goodbye to us./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ms. Paige," Manny sobbed, clutching her skirt, "Do you really have to go?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sorry, little buddy," Paige replied, ruffling his hair. "I have to."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Robin smiled, though it was tinged with sadness. He spoke to her in his scratchy, yet enthusiastic way, "Best of luck out there. Remember us when you're a superstar, y'hear?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Paige laughed. "Of course, Robin. Oh! Harry?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah?" I stammered, caught off guard./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I could see tears in her eyes as she flashed a peace sign at me. "Stay creative, alright?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Uh… Yeah. Of course."/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 15pt; margin-bottom: 15pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"With that, she turned and walked out of the studio. It would be years before I ever saw her again./span/p 


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